not all those who wander are lost: (kings of) leon (roar)

almost two years have passed since the last time i visited ivan's family - unacceptable, especially in light of the fact that he has visited my family many times over the last year in various parts of the US. and so i joined him for a week's visit for a "working" vacation. his family lives in leon, guanajuato, which is northwest of mexico city (map below). the timing could not have been more perfect .. i try not to complain too much about the weather, but it is hot and humid here and much cooler in leon - i wore jeans for the first time in months and even had to use a light coat at night! what a wonderful feeling :)

casi dos años han pasado desde la ultima vez que visite a la familia de ivan - inaceptable, especialmente considerando que el ha visitado a mi familia muchas veces en el ultimo año en varias lugares en los EEUU. entonces, fui con el a pasar una semana en una vacación "trabajando". su familia vive en leon, guanajuato (mapa abajo). estuvo perfectamente coordinado .... intento a no quejar bastante sobre el clima, pero hace calor y hay mucha humedad acá y mucho mejor en leon - usé mis jeans para la primera vez en meses y tuve que usar una chaqueta en la noche! hurrah :)

it was a good week to be in leon - there was a hot wheels festival, a horse show expo, we went to the science museum and wandered around parks, enjoyed independence day decorations, ate lots of delicious food, visited guanajuato, and spent time with ivan's family and friends. leon is considered an industrial city (its about the size of tucson, maybe one million people) and doesn't have the historical attractions that guanajuato, dolores hidalgo, and san miguel de allende do (where the revolution began), but it has a fabulous convention center and is well-known for it's leather products. we went to the hot wheels and horse expos while we were there (there was also a veterinary one and the next week one about padlocks (for three days?!)).

i'm not really sure what the hot wheels fest was about, but there were some decked-out cars that were fun to check out.

era una semana buena estar en leon - hubo un festival de hot wheels, uno de caballos, fuimos al museo de ciencia, visitamos parques, disfrutamos las decoraciones mexicanas, comimos comida rica, visitamos guanajuato, y convivimos con la familia y los amigos de iván.

leon esta considerado una cuidad industria (tiene alrededor de un millón de gente) y no tiene las atracciones históricas de guanajuato, dolores hidalgo, y san miguel de allende, pero tiene un centro de convenciones fabuloso y es conocido por sus productos de piel. aprovechamos los festivales de hot wheels y los caballos cuando estábamos allá.

no se que onda con lo de hot wheels, pero vimos los autos "decked out" que estaban divertidos a ver.

[mini little green car / auto verde pequeño]

[i want my car doors to open like that / quiero que las puertas de mi auto abren asi!]

[car celebrating mexico by driving around in circles / auto celebrando mexico por manejando en circulo]

even though i have not ridden a horse in years (and how i miss it), i still love to go watch them. the horses danced, they bowed, women danced with horses, great entertainment.

aun que no he montado un caballo en muchos años (y lo extraño), me encanta ir a verlos. los caballos bailaron, las mujeres también, se inclinaron, etc.

[woman dancing with horse / mujer bailando con caballo]

[bowing horses / caballos inclinandose]

[demonstration of ranch events - dance, horses, lassos, cock fights / demostración de los eventos del rancho - baila, caballos, lassos, peleas de gallos]

what i like about visiting a place where someone is from is that you do things you normally wouldn't as a tourist - nothing particularly special or unique, but the kind-of things that make you really learn about a place and learn what life is like there.

lo que me gusta sobre visitar un lugar con alguien es de allá es que puedes hacer cosas que normalmente no harías como turista - nada especial o única en particular, pero lo que te hace conocer un lugar y saber como es la vida allá.

[fountain in explora park / fuente en parque explora]

[science museum structure / en el museo de ciencia]

[explora park / parque explora]

[price of dinner for two people. that would be seven tacos and one drink for 46 PESOS (about $4USD) / cena para dos. siete tacos y una bebida para 46 pesos!]

[municipal palace decorate for independence day / palacio municipal decorado para el dia de la independencia]

leon is famous for its shoes (leather products in general, but mostly shoes). it is completely overwhelming and beyond explanation - there are malls and outlets with only shoe stores that take up BLOCKS. problem is, i have big feet (thanks papa and mom) and i barely fit into the largest size they make (sigh). i was still able to find some wonderful boots for DC! phew

leon es famosa para sus zapatos (los productos de piel en general, pero zapatos mas). no lo puedo explicar - hay centros comerciales y outlets que son solamente de tiendas de zapatos que ubican CUADRAS. mi problema es que tengo pies grandes (gracias papa y momma) y apenas puedo usar el numero mas grande que hacen (sigh). aun, pude encontrar algunos botas a usar en DC! phew

[shoe outlet - this photo does not even begin to capture the size of this place / outlet de zapatos - esta foto ni empieza a capturar que grande es]

guanajuato, as i have mentioned, is my favorite place in mexico (thus far). apart from the lack of a nearby ocean (damn), i would live here in a heartbeat. there are details in the city that make it so unique and it has so much character. we went for a day and spent it wandering through museums, crooked narrow cobblestone streets.

como he dicho, guanajuato es mi lugar favorito de mexico (aun). aparte del hecho que no hay un oceano cerca (maldita sea), viviría allá en un segundo. hay detalles de la cuidad que la hacen muy unica y tiene mucha personalidad. fuimos a pasar un dia allá, visitando museos y caminando por las callejones ...

p.s. i've been to leon and guanajuato (i want to live here) before, and wrote about it, in case you want to see more touristy photos than i have from this visit.

estaba yo en leon y guanajuato (quiero vivir allí) antes, y escribia en el momento, si quiere ver fotos mas turisticas

leon
and
guanajuato